Week 5 @ Chargers

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

well haley was holding vick back a bit .. ben draws up a play for vick and we get a td ...hmmmmmmm

Like I've been sayin for 2 years now... Haley is not a good OC. Ben & Co make him look good.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Recap...

"It's not how you start... It's how you finish" - Tomlin

Coaching... Risky play going for the TD with 5s left. But I have to admire Tomlin's tenacity in that moment. He put all the trust in the world on his best player and it paid off. Steeler Nation will need a new pair of underwear after that moment. Haley's playcalling was conservative again. Saw in Vick's postgame interview that he said Ben drew up the bomb to Wheaton. Sorry Haley but your playcalling is shit. You have one of the most talented offenses in the league and you can't muster up more than 3 points in the first half? I'd credit only 10 points to Haley tonight. The last 2 TDs were out of his hands. Butler had a good night schematically. His secondary let him down in the 2nd half, but he was eventually down 3 starters (Shazier, Allen, Mitchell). Tough task keeping the defense off the field when they were getting gashed in the passing game. Pressure was there though. I'll give the coaches a C grade.

O... Ugly day for Vick. Looked hesitant, and second guessed himself too much tonight. He's got to learn to trust himself and his receivers better. Still pretty erratic, but I'm glad he found his groove when it really counted. Didn't help that the O-line was playing pretty poorly tonight. Pockets weren't sustained very long so Vick was like a deer in headlights on multiple drives. Bell was a monster tonight. And a HUGE shout out to Roosevelt Nix for his blocking tonight. That kid is an animal at setting the edge. Clutch day, but I still can't grade them any higher than a B-.

D... Bad start, but they regrouped. Stood pretty firm in the 2nd qurter, but looked pretty porous after halftime. Lost both starting Safeties to injury. Hopefully they aren't out for an extended period of time. Pretty surprised that McCullers was a "healthy scratch" this week. Not sure why or who decided that. Run D was pretty good though. Gordon & Woodhead were held to a combined 52 yds! That's stout! The secondary carried on its weak performance streak. Thank god they remain opportunistic or they would have had a long flight home tonight. Pass rush looked potent, but only registered 2 sacks. That's to be expected when you face a good QB. Rivers was on point with his throws tonight. C

ST... Have to include this in here lol. 4/4 tonight (1 FG, 3 XPs). Scary looking XP's but they made it through! Tip of the cap to sir Boz! Berry didn't have a particularly inspiring night. 39.6yd average on 8 punts. He needs to pick that up into the 45ish range. B

Summary... Pretty wild ride tonight. If it wasn't for the 4th quarter I would say the overall grade would be a C, but I'll bump it up to a B-. Thank god for Le'Veon today. He carried the team on his back all night. That's what elite players do.

Outlook... Heading home with some momentum! Gotta feel good stealing a huge AFC road win. But things are going to get a lot harder this week. Steelers-West (aka Arizona) is stacked to the gills with talent and they are playing lights out. Vick is going to need his 4th quarter self to play all 4 quarters if they want to win this game. They have arguably one of, if not the best all-around defensive units in the league. Thank god we have them at home! There should be a nice sidestory of Arians "returning home" of sorts. Still have a lot of respect for that man, but I'm hoping the Steelers send him off empty handed next week! lol. Possibly just 1 more week of Vick before Ben returns!

 

[MISKO]

good read face .. but as much as I want ben back behind center I dont want to see him back until he is totally healed ..dont need him to come back just to aggravate his injury or worse yet get re-injured cause he isn't totally healed

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Better go buy a lottery ticket

LOL!!...Does luck strike twice!

I will.

My recap.

Admittedly I'd lost hope until the pick 6...just nothing positive was happening...I wasn't into the two-TE pkg Haley had out there. Kind of a frustrating game to watch for a long time...Fitting that Ben was involved in the Wheaton play call.

HC...gutsy, but I like the play to go for the win and I expected Bell to get the ball in some way....I'm not sure if the Steeler sideline was aware of the 15 time run off though that would have been a huge deal if Bell had not scored.

OFC/Haley...still more conservative than I expected, if not for a DEF score, maybe he opens it up more, but Bell was again the best player on the field...in a game that you know SD spent a lot of time trying to stop him. Really the game came down to 3 big passes and a scramble...credit Vick for staying in it with not much going good, but we're going to need better to beat AZ.

DEF/Butler...I thought the best game this unit has played this year. Stat wise it didn't show up, but the Steeler front 7 (DL especially) kicked ass in this game, they were collapsing the pocket all night....JJ got his 1st sack, and a FF, some pocket pressure moving Rivers off his spot...maybe his best game as a Steeler...Dupree is a quietly pushing for the team lead in sacks....loved the edge pressure with the S...Thomas and Golden finished the game and I did not see a drop off at all.

Kudos to Blake...I was cursing him at times during the game, but he made the game changing play...#31...He's not perfect, gets beat like any CB, but his demeanor after a mistake or getting beat doesn't change...right now he looks like a keeper...Cockrell has been a find.

This was a big win.

 

[Wamu]

LOL!!...Does luck strike twice!

I will.

My recap.

Admittedly I'd lost hope until the pick 6...just nothing positive was happening...I wasn't into the two-TE pkg Haley had out there. Kind of a frustrating game to watch for a long time...Fitting that Ben was involved in the Wheaton play call.

HC...gutsy, but I like the play to go for the win and I expected Bell to get the ball in some way....I'm not sure if the Steeler sideline was aware of the 15 time run off though that would have been a huge deal if Bell had not scored.

OFC/Haley...still more conservative than I expected, if not for a DEF score, maybe he opens it up more, but Bell was again the best player on the field...in a game that you know SD spent a lot of time trying to stop him. Really the game came down to 3 big passes and a scramble...credit Vick for staying in it with not much going good, but we're going to need better to beat AZ.

DEF/Butler...I thought the best game this unit has played this year. Stat wise it didn't show up, but the Steeler front 7 (DL especially) kicked ass in this game, they were collapsing the pocket all night....JJ got his 1st sack, and a FF, some pocket pressure moving Rivers off his spot...maybe his best game as a Steeler...Dupree is a quietly pushing for the team lead in sacks....loved the edge pressure with the S...Thomas and Golden finished the game and I did not see a drop off at all.

Kudos to Blake...I was cursing him at times during the game, but he made the game changing play...#31...He's not perfect, gets beat like any CB, but his demeanor after a mistake or getting beat doesn't change...right now he looks like a keeper...Cockrell has been a find.

This was a big win.

How much longer will Rothlessburger be out?

 

[MISKO]

How much longer will Rothlessburger be out?

they said 6 but we are thinking 3-4

 

[MISKO]

we know that you want to see him back on the field wamu so not to worry he should be at full strength for the browns game

 

[Wamu]

they said 6 but we are thinking 3-4

Excellent! I have him in 1 of my FF leagues.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Recap...

"It's not how you start... It's how you finish" - Tomlin

Coaching... Risky play going for the TD with 5s left. But I have to admire Tomlin's tenacity in that moment. He put all the trust in the world on his best player and it paid off. Steeler Nation will need a new pair of underwear after that moment. Haley's playcalling was conservative again. Saw in Vick's postgame interview that he said Ben drew up the bomb to Wheaton. Sorry Haley but your playcalling is shit. You have one of the most talented offenses in the league and you can't muster up more than 3 points in the first half? I'd credit only 10 points to Haley tonight. The last 2 TDs were out of his hands. Butler had a good night schematically. His secondary let him down in the 2nd half, but he was eventually down 3 starters (Shazier, Allen, Mitchell). Tough task keeping the defense off the field when they were getting gashed in the passing game. Pressure was there though. I'll give the coaches a C grade.

O... Ugly day for Vick. Looked hesitant, and second guessed himself too much tonight. He's got to learn to trust himself and his receivers better. Still pretty erratic, but I'm glad he found his groove when it really counted. Didn't help that the O-line was playing pretty poorly tonight. Pockets weren't sustained very long so Vick was like a deer in headlights on multiple drives. Bell was a monster tonight. And a HUGE shout out to Roosevelt Nix for his blocking tonight. That kid is an animal at setting the edge. Clutch day, but I still can't grade them any higher than a B-.

D... Bad start, but they regrouped. Stood pretty firm in the 2nd qurter, but looked pretty porous after halftime. Lost both starting Safeties to injury. Hopefully they aren't out for an extended period of time. Pretty surprised that McCullers was a "healthy scratch" this week. Not sure why or who decided that. Run D was pretty good though. Gordon & Woodhead were held to a combined 52 yds! That's stout! The secondary carried on its weak performance streak. Thank god they remain opportunistic or they would have had a long flight home tonight. Pass rush looked potent, but only registered 2 sacks. That's to be expected when you face a good QB. Rivers was on point with his throws tonight. C

ST... Have to include this in here lol. 4/4 tonight (1 FG, 3 XPs). Scary looking XP's but they made it through! Tip of the cap to sir Boz! Berry didn't have a particularly inspiring night. 39.6yd average on 8 punts. He needs to pick that up into the 45ish range. B

Summary... Pretty wild ride tonight. If it wasn't for the 4th quarter I would say the overall grade would be a C, but I'll bump it up to a B-. Thank god for Le'Veon today. He carried the team on his back all night. That's what elite players do.

Outlook... Heading home with some momentum! Gotta feel good stealing a huge AFC road win. But things are going to get a lot harder this week. Steelers-West (aka Arizona) is stacked to the gills with talent and they are playing lights out. Vick is going to need his 4th quarter self to play all 4 quarters if they want to win this game. They have arguably one of, if not the best all-around defensive units in the league. Thank god we have them at home! There should be a nice sidestory of Arians "returning home" of sorts. Still have a lot of respect for that man, but I'm hoping the Steelers send him off empty handed next week! lol. Possibly just 1 more week of Vick before Ben returns!

Great write up...McCullers...I was wondering why I didn't see him, but maybe they felt with SD they would go with an extra DE.

On the DEF...I went the other way on the DEF...the 1st drive was the only time they were not much of a resistance. Rivers was not on the ground a ton, but his pocket was under his chin most of the night...the blitzes were getting there...Gordon nor Woodhead were factors...considering the OFC only managed 14 1st downs leaving the D on the field most of the 2nd half...getting a score and only giving up 20 (I think SD was averaging over 30 at home, and about 28 overall)...I thought it was their best effort of the year so far.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

How much longer will Rothlessburger be out?

yeah...4 weeks missed would be week 8 vs CIN...that would be 5 weeks from the injury...maybe he plays vs KC, but if they beat AZ, I would hold him out until CIN and that's my gut call anyway.

 

[Wamu]

yeah...4 weeks missed would be week 8 vs CIN...that would be 5 weeks from the injury...maybe he plays vs KC, but if they beat AZ, I would hold him out until CIN and that's my gut call anyway.

They shouldn't rush him back too fast. Although watching Vick play is tough.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

They shouldn't rush him back too fast. Although watching Vick play is tough.

Agreed...but the win last night took a little pressure off. They can better afford to lose the AZ gm because it's out of conf, but that would put the pressure right back on @ KC and they will be hungry for a win I'm sure.

If Vick can hand the baton back to Ben @ 4-3 going into week 8 I would say job well done...I don't care what it looks like...lol.

 

[Wamu]

Agreed...but the win last night took a little pressure off. They can better afford to lose the AZ gm because it's out of conf, but that would put the pressure right back on @ KC and they will be hungry for a win I'm sure.

If Vick can hand the baton back to Ben @ 4-3 going into week 8 I would say job well done...I don't care what it looks like...lol.

What's up w/ Shazier, I thought he was gonna return last night? Don't recall seeing him on the field.

 

[SteelersPride]

Tomlin has huge balls

 

[ATL96Steeler]

What's up w/ Shazier, I thought he was gonna return last night? Don't recall seeing him on the field.

Shazier is becoming a bit of a mystery here, but Tomlin is never straight with his injury commentary...a stinger turned into a pinched nerve and now 3 weeks on the shelf...he was a full practice participant, so imo a healthy scratch because ILB is the deepest position on the team...my guess is they don't want to have this be a lingering thing so they gave him an extra week.

 

[Wamu]

Shazier is becoming a bit of a mystery here, but Tomlin is never straight with his injury commentary...a stinger turned into a pinched nerve and now 3 weeks on the shelf...he was a full practice participant, so imo a healthy scratch because ILB is the deepest position on the team...my guess is they don't want to have this be a lingering thing so they gave him and extra week.

He just can't seem to stay on the field. Which is a shame, if he could get healthy I think he'd be a pretty good LB.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Tomlin has huge balls

Spoken like a testament to a life experience... Something we need to know about you SP? lol

 

[MISKO]

yeah...4 weeks missed would be week 8 vs CIN...that would be 5 weeks from the injury...maybe he plays vs KC, but if they beat AZ, I would hold him out until CIN and that's my gut call anyway.

I'm inclined to agree with ya